Scattered Timelines

Gner thought about it and realized there was nothing wrong with this statement. As far as the Argel Family was concerned, a parasite like Booze was nothing at all. As for the few gangs he knew, would they really dare to make a move against a marquis's family?

As for Booze's inexplicable good fortune, it was at most useful against low-sequence Beyonders. If a Sequence 6 or Sequence 5 were to make a move, what good could mere luck possibly do?

Therefore, Gner did not say anything more.

Violent Bear listened to the conversation between the two, a look of joy appearing on his face. Being able to speak with such confidence must mean they came from a major faction, so getting rid of Booze would not be a problem.

Violent Bear was not exactly a pure-hearted saint who insisted on getting rid of Booze; it was mainly because Booze really was someone who held grudges and sought revenge for every minor grievance. Violent Bear had lost his head and made a move against him back then, and who knew when that might be exposed.

Time quickly reached ten o'clock, and the boxing matches in the ring began, but Booze still had not arrived.

Kronos asked Violent Bear about it, and Violent Bear was also somewhat puzzled, so he sent someone to look for Booze.

Not long after, the person sent to find Booze returned. They had not found Booze, but they brought back a note.

"Wait!"

There were just those two words on the note. According to the person who went looking, it had been left right at the doorway of Booze's house, and the house was indeed empty.

"Seriously, I really kind of hate him now." The reason Gner had dissuaded Kronos earlier was also that his feeling of disgust toward Booze had not been that strong, but it was different now.

Kronos had been very well-bred since childhood, so he did not say anything, but just as Gner had said, he was starting to find him hateful.

However, there was no help for it. Since the man had told them to wait, they would just wait. What else could they do?

Thus, the three of them drank alcohol, watched the boxing match, and chatted while waiting.

Time quickly reached eleven-thirty, but for someone still not to have arrived by this time was wrong.

Violent Bear's men went to look for Booze once again, and this time they brought back another note.

"Pay more, one hundred pounds, and I'll show up if you agree."

Not to mention Violent Bear and Gner, who had rather poor tempers, even someone like Kronos, who had received a noble education since childhood, could have his anger seen right on his face.

To be honest, if Kronos had initially been undecided about whether to get involved in Booze's affairs, he now believed that this person simply ought to be dealt with.

"Give it to him. Let's see what else he's going to pull," Kronos said in a low voice.

Sensing that Kronos was also angry, Violent Bear did not continue to egg him on, but directly had someone take the money and go.

Before long, the person returned. This time, Booze was at home; after taking the money, he said he would come in an hour because he needed to wash up, and that if they were not at the bar by then, he would turn around and leave.

"Hahahaha, interesting, very interesting." Kronos was thoroughly enraged. "Gner, go home and have the steward drive a carriage over."

Although Gner did not know what Kronos was going to do, he was certain that Booze was definitely going to pay the price for his own foolishness.

Therefore, without another word, Gner left the bar.

Kronos refused to believe that Booze's meager bit of luck could deal with him. Did the man seriously think the power of time was a joke?

As the time grew later and later, the people in the Grizzly Bear Bar gradually all left, leaving only Kronos and Violent Bear drinking in silence, neither of them saying a word.

It was close to two o'clock in the morning when a person dressed in an extremely flamboyant style and with a rappish expression walked into the Grizzly Bear Bar.

As soon as he entered the door, he shouted, "Big stupid bear, hurry up and entertain me. I'm here!"

Kronos looked up and saw him, then turned to ask Violent Bear, "Is it him?"

Violent Bear did not speak, merely nodding his head.

Kronos was not in a rush to make a move either. Instead, he activated the Eye of Time, wondering what a Beyonder of the Wheel of Fortune Pathway looked like.

Just as Kronos had expected, the Wheel of Fortune Pathway was indeed rather different, which also explained why Booze was so fortunate.

Every single object possessed a timeline of its own; the past that had already been experienced could not be changed, but what about the future?

In truth, everyone's future held countless possibilities, but due to various factors such as environment, education, and personality, a certain specific future was more likely to occur. Therefore, on the timeline, everyone's future was a single line, but if one observed carefully, they might see some extremely minute branches.

However, the Booze before him was different. He had three very thick timelines in his future.

This was perhaps related to the Wheel of Fortune Pathway. His exceptionally high spirituality would grant him some inexplicable guidance, which was equivalent to an extra factor appearing out of thin air. If he followed the guidance, his future would change.

Upon thinking of this, Kronos understood in an instant. He had to make his move right now; he himself was under the Concealment of Time, but Violent Bear and Gner were not, and they might be sensed very soon.

So Kronos hurled his stool without another word. It was not aimed at Booze, but at the door, to prevent him from escaping.

Before Booze could even react, Kronos was already right before his eyes, and then, in the blink of an eye, he took a fierce punch right to the chin.

This punch was deliberately aimed at the jaw because when the chin suffered a heavy blow, the human body would lose its balance and fall, allowing one to subdue an enemy more quickly.

However, things were truly not that simple, for the moment Booze suffered the heavy blow, his terrifying computational ability and precise control as a machine activated.

Although falling due to a loss of balance belonged to bodily instinct, the moment he fell, he bounced right back up, preventing Kronos from landing a few more punches.

Kronos wanted to take advantage of the time before Booze entered his state to throw a few more punches, but by this time Booze was clearly in an entirely different state, consecutively intercepting several of Kronos's attacks and even managing to counterattack in the interim.

Leaving aside the battle between these two for a moment, Violent Bear was overjoyed on the sidelines. He had set up three traps just to get rid of Booze, but none of them had ever succeeded, and they had not even managed to graze him before Booze avoided them in advance.

Directly starting a brawl like this was even more unheard of, so Violent Bear stood ready on the sidelines to jump right in and help Kronos.

"Violent Bear, I'm still fine right now. You don't need to step in; just watch the door. If I really can't take him down, you can come and help me." Kronos saw Violent Bear's eager expression and spoke.

Hearing Kronos's words, Violent Bear did not object either. He also knew that Kronos needed the combat experience, so he obediently walked over to the door and casually pushed a cabinet over to block it.

Returning to the battle between the two, because of Booze's Machine Thinking, Kronos simply could not find any flaws in Booze at all for the moment.

Their combat styles were also quite similar. The technique Gner had taught Kronos was to look for the opponent's flaws and then attack, while the robot-like thinking brought to Boots was also the rapid discovery of the opponent's flaws.

Therefore, the battle between the two looked rather bizarre for a moment: you threw a punch, I dodged, I took advantage of the momentum to throw a punch, you also dodged, and then you threw a punch. The two fought for several minutes without a single instance of physical contact with one another.

By this time, Kronos had already carefully examined Booze from head to toe with the Eye of Time and the Eyes of Mystery Prying. He had confirmed that this person was simply holding on through his Machine Thinking; he had never actually learned hand-to-hand combat himself, and his physical fitness was roughly on par with Kronos's.

Therefore, under these circumstances, one either had to directly overwhelm him through sheer physical fitness or combat technique—Gner or a Sequence 8 Barbarian might be able to do that—or else one simply had to outlast him, as Machine Thinking consumed quite a bit of spirituality as well.

Having figured this point out, Kronos directly deactivated the Eye of Time and the Eyes of Mystery Prying. No matter what, this was a protracted battle, and conserving his own spirituality was always the right choice.

Initially, relying on the instincts he had gained during training, Kronos could still fight Booze to a standstill, but this style of combat centered on finding other people's flaws was indeed somewhat mentally taxing. As time went on, mistakes and lapses were inevitable.

Relying on his Machine Thinking, Booze operated under perfect calculation with every move, so gradually his fists would occasionally land on Kronos's body.

Violent Bear watched anxiously from the side, and just as he was preparing to help, he saw a tiny point of red light flare up on Kronos's body.

This was the Vampire’s Heart, that Beyonder item brought out from the Argyle Manor, which could help Kronos recover from his injuries and pain.

Fortunately, Kronos was cautious enough. Even though he had not returned home over the past two days, he still remembered to buy fresh blood to fuel these two Beyonder items; otherwise, Kronos would not have dared to activate it at such a critical moment.

With the blessing of the Beyonder item, Kronos instantly shifted his combat style, completely abandoning calculation and never throwing the first strike. He entirely waited for Booze to attack first, endured the blow head-on, and then counterattacked in a mutual destruction sort of approach.

After several rounds, Kronos's injuries were completely healed, but Booze could no longer hold on, and some of his ribs were likely broken.

Yet even under his Machine Thinking, he chose not to flee, for he knew that someone was guarding the door. The moment he bolted, he would find himself caught in a two-sided pincer attack with zero chance of survival.

However, Booze was even clearer on one thing: his spirituality could not last for even a few more minutes. Right now, he was truly driven to a dead end.

"Who are you? What grievance is there between the two of us? I can offer amends to you." At this point, Booze began to consider lowering his head to save his life.

Kronos deactivated the temporarily summoned Eyes of Mystery Prying, and then spoke, "Thinking of capitulating now? Is that because your Machine Thinking can only be maintained for less than three minutes?"

Booze gritted his teeth and said, "Can't you cut me some slack? I consider myself someone who gets things done efficiently. I can work for you from now on."

Kronos smiled. "You said it yourself. I agree. Work for me from now on."